Well heck, what do I do now?

New house, new neighborhood, no more elliptical machine!! Still doing the T-Tapp workouts every other day (back and forth between the 15 and 55 minute versions) but I'm not
seeing any inches off my thighs or tummy, where I was hoping to see results. Why is it that I never can lose inches by just exercising? All those people on the adds get to lose inches. Why not me??Oddly, I do believe that the work I
did with T-Tapp accounts for me not hurting my back during our recent move. I'm telling you, the series of stretching, balancing and resistance moves in this program has worked wonders on my prone-to-pull back.

The question now for me is - given the fact that I don't want to buy an elliptical machine or pay for a gym membership, what kind of exercise can I do to burn at least 500 calories in lieu of the elliptical?
Oh, and running has proven to be problematic because it pounds my back too much.

The other day on a public radio station out of LA I heard a reporter admonishing people
in the area about spending their time and money inside fitness clubs when there were plenty of opportunities outside to practice fitness. She was right. This area has parks, hiking trails, miles of bike routes and pools galore.
In a perfect world I would have the time and energy to participate in these activities but the fact of the matter is that there is nothing that can compare to the down-and-dirty calorie burn of the elliptical machine.

Our new house is in the hills- some serious hills. Along with these hills come some interesting obstacles in the form of coyotes. Since moving in I have been warned several times by neighbors about walking,
with my dogs,.at dawn or dusk because that is when the coyotes like to walk too. I have been thinking about carrying a stick of some kind...

Fast forward six weeks or
so-

Here I am-finally. This last few weeks has left me tired of unpacking and ready to get back into an exercise routine. We gave in and purchased an elliptical
which sits on the back porch. I can't tell you how cool it is to "elliptisize" looking out over the OC - any time I want to. I have also thrown caution to the wind and started run/walking my two pups up and down the surrounding hills. I adore
looking at the old-school California houses in our neighborhood, and never tire of the new plants and landscaping I see. Riley is so happy, and after five minutes of walking or so, I usually can coax Bennie into the jogging stroller I found abandoned next
to the dumpster the week before we moved from the apartments. I love hearing the chuckles coming from cars at the stop lights as they look over and realize that there is a little black pug sitting in the stroller instead of a baby!